


I hope that you burn

by Alexia247



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Deserves Better, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Is So Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:27:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22349515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexia247/pseuds/Alexia247
Summary: In which Marinette erases herself from the narrative of her classmates and Collège Françoise Dupont.
Comments: 33
Kudos: 595





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette was tired. 

She was angry. 

But most of all she was _done._

Done trying to prove to them that Lila was lying, only to have everyone gang up on her, as if she's the one who's the villain that's bullying, sweet, innocent Lila. 

They want to believe Lila's pretty stories of meeting various celebrities? _Let them._

Lila wants to be Class Rep? _She can have it._

Adrien wants her to take the high road? _Screw the high road._

Her so called friends want to burn the bridge of friendship that they've had for a long time, even before Lila came around? _Consider them burned to ash._

They don't want to hang around her anymore? _Fine. She won't step another foot inside Collège Françoise Dupont._

So, during the summer when school lets out, she has only one goal in mind. _Erasing herself from the narrative of Collège Françoise Dupont._


	2. Heart of glass, Mind of stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette realizes some truths are tough to swallow like a bitter pill. 

Over the summer Marinette had found a new school with the help of her parents, they had been rightfully furious after she told them everything that had happened that led her to want to switch schools. It hadn't taken them too long to find a new school, and while her parents filled out the necessary paperwork, she worked on putting her portfolio together. Maybe it was the perfectionist side of her that had the blunette checking it over and over, to make sure that everything was in order before finally submitting it. 

Waiting was always the hardest part. She refused to bite her nails, an old habit that had been quite hard to kick, especially while dealing with Chloé's taunts and being Class Rep on top of that. She tried really hard not to think about her old class filled with friends who she had done everything for, she had been for them, gave them her trust, unwavering loyalty, and friendship. But they had thrown it back in her face without a second glance, all for a few pretty stories. 

She would never make that mistake again. 

Losing them, her friends to Lila Rossi, had hurt. It had been a difficult blow. Like cracks in an unstable foundation. She had tried. Tried to show them, shield them from Lila's manipulative ways. Point out the obvious lies in her stories. But they wouldn't believe her. 

Or maybe they just didn't want to. 

She hadn't been the only one to know that Lila was spouting lies. Adrien had known as well, but he refused to call her out. Quite sure that her lies wouldn't hurt anyone. She had wanted to shake him, yell at him, that this wasn't some fairytale, this was real life where lies can and do hurt people. His reassurance that they were in this together were just hollow, empty words that meant nothing when they were whispered from across the room. 

Taking down his pictures, throwing them out along with his schedule had been quite the internal battle. He had been her first crush, she knew that you didn't just move on from those so easily. But she could do it. She _would_ do it. In place of his pictures on her wall were future fashion designs and replacing his schedule was her planner/vision board. She even deleted the picture of him on her computer, right now it's set to the default screen saver until she could find something new to put as the background. 

She even unfollowed him on social media. 

There. No more Adrien in her life. No more distractions. 

The multiple text message notifications that were coming in from her phone which were without a doubt from Alya probably demanding why she had unfollowed her along with the rest of the class on social media, Instagram and Twitter specifically. 

Alya. The inspiring journalist. The lady blogger. Her once best friend. Out of everyone, she had thought Alya would have been the last person to believe Lila's lies, after all she had preached that a journalist should always check their sources. 

She had wanted Marinette to prove that Lila's claim were false. But she wasn't the budding journalist, Alya was. So why didn't Alya check her sources? Why did she take everything Lila had said about meeting celebrities, traveling around the world, and being the daughter of a diplomat at face value? 

Of course she knew the answer to that already. Lila just tells them what they want to hear, and they follow her words as if it's some sort of gospel. Well, not everyone followed her word. Chloé and Sabrina surely hadn't. 

She can take some peace in that, she supposes. That someone else besides her can see past Lila's silver tongue and point out the obvious lies in her stories. 

Another message notification stops the rhythmic sound of her sewing machine. Without looking over at the device, she would bet a roll of her newly purchased fabric that it's Alya again, demanding that she answer the messages or to call her. 

Why she couldn't just leave her be? They weren't friends anymore. Alya had made that perfectly clear. With a shake of her head, Marinette made her downstairs and entered the bakery. Luckily, there weren't too many customers. 

"Maman?" 

"Yes, dear?" Sabine Cheng smiled at her daughter who appeared to be much more lighter and relaxed, but she was no fool. She knew that it would take a while for her Marinette to heal from all that had happened. 

"I was wondering if I could get my number changed?" 

°~°

When Collège Françoise Dupont opened again after the summer break, the students were filled with some sort of dread that they couldn't place. Especially the students of Caline Bustier. But they shook it off, in favor of listening to Lila's stories about how much traveling she had done over the summer. 

The feeling returned when Caline Bustier came in and begin to take attendance after the students sat in their seats. It was Rose Lavillant who raised her hand and asked the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue. 

"Madam Bustier, shouldn't we wait for Marinette to arrive?" 

Madam Bustier didn't speak for a few minutes, the only sound being the soft tick-tocks of the clock that hung on the wall. 

Then she dropped the bombshell. 

"Marinette is no longer attending Collège Françoise Dupont." 

The silence that followed was deafening that if someone dropped a pin, everyone would have heard it. 

Alya wanted to scoff and roll her eyes switching schools due to being jealous of Lila? That was a bit dramatic even for Marinette. Just because the brunette was close to Adrien. She would give the blunette a piece of her mind during lunch. 

The blonde model in question could practically feel the guilt eating away at him. It wasn't his fault! Lila's lies didn't hurt anyone! She could change! Couldn't she? 

Juleka Couffaine was not the least bit surprised after hearing the news from Luka, who had been in contact with the blunette after getting her new number. Her sweet Rose looked so heartbroken at the news that it made her heart ache and she gave her hand a gentle squeeze, a promise: It'll be okay.

Nino Lahiffe was still trying to process the words. Marinette wouldn't be attending their school anymore, his oldest friend gone. Just like that. He wanted it to be some sort of cruel, sick joke. But the look on Madame Bustier's face told him it was anything but that. 

Chloé Bourgeois would never admit it to another living soul, but she was actually proud of Dupain-Cheng for leaving. She shouldn't have to deal with watching her so called friends turn their backs on her for supposed promises that spilled out of Rossi's mouth. Promises that would never come true.

When lunch time rolled around, Alya immediately dialed Marinette's number ready to give the girl a piece of her mind. 

Honestly! 

All this just because-

_"The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The word count is 1,192. A new record for me!


	3. Queen Bee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Point of view of Queen Bee is visited.

Chloé Bourgeois wanted to face palm herself. She thought her classmates were smart, that they would be able to spot the obvious falsehoods in Lie-la's stories or at least ask the girl for proof to back up her claims. Saving Jagged Stone's cat? Knowing Prince Ali? Being the daughter of a diplomat? It had taken her all of 5 minutes on the internet to confirm her suspicion that Lie-la's falsehoods were just that, false. 

But she had wasted enough of her breath pointing the obvious holes in the Italian girl's stories time and time again, only for everyone, besides Adrien, and Sabrina, to tell her stop bullying Lie-la. She wanted to snort at that, so pointing out the obvious plot holes in the brunette's stories was bullying now? No. That was just stating facts, any  _ reporter _ should have been able to do. And if they couldn't? Well, that just meant they were no better than a tabloid. 

The vindictive side of her took great pleasure in the way Césaire's face turned so many shades of red, she thought steam would eventually come out of the other girl's ears. Oh what a  _ sight _ that would have made, but she took no pleasure from that, like the old her would have. She would have been proud, but she didn't feel proud. She was a little bit wiser now, and right now, all Chloé could feel right now was disgust. 

Disgust at everyone in this classroom. For turning their backs on Dupain-Cheng, when she had gone to hell and back to help them with whatever was causing them trouble and trying her best to fix it. And how do they repay her? By dropping her like a hot potato for a few pretty stories spun by  _ Rossi.  _ They at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed, at least until said girl had to pull out the crocodile tears and wail about "Chloé being mean to her just like Marinette." 

_ That  _ actually got a laugh from Chloé. 

"What's so funny?!" Alya snapped immediately coming to Lie-la's defense. 

Funny, she never had jumped to Dupain-Cheng's defense so quickly, even when Césaire had claimed to be the girl's "best friend." 

"Dupain-Cheng? Mean?  _ Please _ . Those two words don't even go together in the same sentence, she doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

Chloé shook her at the absurdity of it all. Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! She spoke again before Césaire or Lie-la could, both girls probably ready with a response. "Dupain-Cheng has helped out everyone in one way or another, or did all of you just suddenly come down with a case of amnesia?" 

"And you all claimed to be her  _ friend _ , to have her back. But when it comes down to it, those were just empty words to make yourselves feel better." She noticed that Adrien flinched at her words, but it had been done with such subtly that hardly anyone else would have noticed. Now  _ that _ was interesting. And she would be finding out what had caused such a reaction from him. 

********

It would be over the weekend in her room over a cup of tea on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, that Chloé Bourgeois truly believed that she had heard it all. But  _ this?  _ Knowing that Adrien was very much aware that Rossi was lying, and he had told Dupain-Cheng to take the high road? Well, it certainly took the cake, Chloe could feel her grip tightened on both the handle of the tea cup and saucer, she exhaled slowly and mentally counted backwards from 10 in her head. 

By the time she reached 5, she was much more calm and composed. She loved Adrien. She really did, they had grown up together after all, they saw each other at their highest point and their lowest point. She knew that her green eyed friend was even more sheltered than she was, so he was a bit naive when it came to certain things, such as dealing with a bully. 

_ It was time to give dear Adrikins a reality check.  _

Many words crossed her mind in that moment: Naive. Coward. Spineless. But only one made it past her lips, "enabler."  _ That _ caused green eyes to finally snap up from the tea cup and meet her gaze head on, showing the smallest amount of bravery for not automatically flinching at the righteous anger Adrien Agreste saw in the eyes of his childhood friend, Chloé Bourgeois. 

"I'm not! I just-" 

Chloé cut him off before he could continue. "You just wanted to be complacent, Adrien. To not shake up the status quo. By not doing anything about Rossi, about her lies, you essentially gave her free reign for her to do whatever she wanted, no matter who got hurt in the process." 

"Lila's lies haven't hurt anyone!" 

"They hurt Dupain-Cheng." 

She watched as Adrien flinched as if Chloé had physically struck him, any other time she would have been at his side, ready to comfort him, to apologize for causing such a reaction.  _ But not this time. _ He needed to hear the cold, hard truth. And if Chloé had to be the one to deliver that truth? Then she would it with the grace and posture of a Queen.

"Her so called friends just abandoned her without a care in the world, so wrapped up in Rossi's fake stories, and empty promises that will probably never come true. And the one other person who knew Rossi was lying? Who she expected to at least come to her defense? Told her to take the high road."

Chloé shook her head. That had to be rubbing salt in the wound for the other girl, Chloé was sure. She can remember how  _ defeated _ Dupain-Cheng had looked, how much the other girl had begun to resemble a skeleton, how her cheerful smile had instead been replaced with something fake.  _ Plastic.  _ Something Chloé had become all too familiar with. 

A foreign feeling had twisted inside her, seeing the other girl in such a state. She couldn't pinpoint it then, just like she can't accurately pinpoint it now. But she knew that it was most likely akin to worry. Possibly something even greater than that. 

She can't focus on those thoughts. Not right now anyway. Because right now her focus was on the boy sitting across from her, who was silent, not finding the words to speak. 

Chloé broke the silence that had settled over them. "Was it any wonder that she decided enough was enough and switched schools, Adrien?" 

She leaned back, not saying anything more. Just letting her words sink in. 

When he broke down crying at the weight of her words and his own actions, clinging to her like he used to do when they were children. She embraced him fully, and comforted her childhood friend. And when she could finally see his emerald eyes through tears, she saw something in his gaze that she hadn't seen in a very long time: 

_ Determination.  _

Chloé inwardly smiled at that.  _ Looks like he finally got his head out of the sand.  _

********************************

It isn't until the next weekend after her talk with Adrien, that she spots Dupain-Cheng in a fabric store, but the girl isn't alone. She has company. In the form of a boy who has medium length black hair, but with tips that are dyed blue. They're so engrossed in each other that they don't even notice Chloé. Which works in her favor. 

"Luka! I told you that I can carry those myself, you know." 

The boy, Luka, responds with what she knows without is a teasing tone. "Come on Mari, what kind of friend would I be if I let you carry all of these?" 

"Well, you don't want to know my answer to  _ that _ . You would probably faint."

Chloé feels as if she's going to faint herself. Dupain-Cheng was actually sassy? Who would have guessed it? 

When her eyes land on said girl, Chloé actually finds herself filled with relief as she sees that the other girl no longer resembles a skeleton. Her eyes are full of life again, and her smile is something genuine and true. This Luka seems to be exactly what Dupain-Cheng needs. 

As she slips out of the store before they can spot her, Chloé can feel herself smiling. 

_ Good for you, Dupain-Cheng. Good for you.  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {I hope you guys enjoyed Chloè's POV! And thank you guys for all the comments and kudos ❤}

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I posted this on tumblr and thought it would be only fair if I posted it here too, so that those that don't have tumblr can read it too.


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